The first footage of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has been revealed at yesterday’s live internet broadcast, although few firm conclusions can be drawn. The subject is certainly sensitive to Warner Bros. with several videos around the web having been withdrawn by Monday morning due to breaches of the Terms & Conditions attached to the production.

It’s OK to tell what happened though and we can report that the footage ends thus, with Thorin declaring:

“We are the dwarves of Erebor. We have come to reclaim our homeland.”

No surprise there then. The trailer finishes on some sound effects that are unmistakably like a dragon, but of course there was no sign of Smaug himself anywhere. I do not think anyone actually expected that, so what did become clearer?

Alongside some moody shots of Gandalf and Radagast in a mausoleum of a cavern, we begin to learn more about Benedict Cumberbatch’s other character in the movie, at least by implication we do anyway, with Gandalf asking why the sword Glamdring, “got out into the world,” only to discover that there’s much more to it than meets the eye, all of which is meant to tie into the Necromancer storyline.

Peter Jackson appeared very aware of the potential problems with the middle film of any trilogy, responding to one fan’s question with:

“It is complicated to do a middle film, but the advantage is … we have multiple story lines … and we can start following multiple characters.”

Sounds enticing, as making a middle film into anything but a filler with untied endings and ragged beginnings can be a problem. Perhaps we will see a few complete stories within the overall arc; who knows? It is now almost legendary that enough footage has been shot to complete several movies.

More will undoubtedly be drip fed us over the coming months and as Jackson revealed this video release ought to be considered first in a series of blogs about the film. First mystery up, doubtless awaiting further examination later is Gandalf saying:

“These tombs were opened from the inside.”

That’s a little mystery that Gandalf is exploring in The Desolation of Smaug, according to Peter Jackson at the event. He also said that Mirkwood is the scariest land they’ll explore in the movie and described Thranduil’s kingdom using concept art. Cinemablend reported that:

“This looked like that same creepy forest but with some castle-like structure in there. The realm itself is underground, but there’s light filtering in– We want it to be grand, like a cathedral. But this is not Rivendell. This is not the friendly land of elves that we’re used to in these movies. Jed recalls his time spent as a dwarf, held prisoner in Thranduil’s kingdom.”

The approach used in this teaser follows the pattern of previous production video blogs, so you will have recognised the strategy by now no doubt. It looks like we can anticipate a steady ramping up of the pressure from now onwards until the finished trailer is put on general release.

Smaug didn't impress me much. by the time I saw the movie, i was sick of hearing the name pronounced Smowg. Yech. where are Smaugs arms? and why does he look blue nosed? I thought LOTR had a really good blend of PR and CGI. The Hobbit was decent when i watched without 3D. HobbitoS dragged on and left with another cliff hanger. none of that melted gold looked convincing. And that made no sense that Smaug was able to fly while coated in it.

Smaug didn't impress me much. by the time I saw the movie, i was sick of hearing the name pronounced Smowg. Yech. where are Smaugs arms? and why does he look blue nosed? I thought LOTR had a really good blend of PR and CGI. The Hobbit was decent when i watched without 3D. HobbitoS dragged on and left with another cliff hanger. none of that melted gold looked convincing. And that made no sense that Smaug was able to fly while coated in it.

I saw the first Hobbit and saw twenty minutes of Smaug at the Oscar short list presentation in the intended frame rate and stereo, and Smaug is an abomination. I think some of the issue is the amount of light needed to double frame rate. It is very unattractive to light scenes that way, and there is no amount of color grading that will cover what is fundamentally bad lighting. You can do alot with grading as long as you have a good value structure with which to start. Somebody is going to have to reinvent lighting for movies with high frame rate as the usual compositions do not seem to work particularly with strong back lighting. However they will never pay to light a movie once for HFR and then again for regular releases so one will always suffer.

“Peter was always a geek in terms of technology but, once he had the means to do it, and the evolution of the technology really took off, he never looked back. In the first [Lord of the Rings] movie, yes, there’s Rivendell and Mordor, but there’s sort of an organic quality to it, actors acting with each other, and real landscapes — it’s grittier. The second movie already started ballooning, for my taste, and then by the third one, there were a lot of special effects. It was grandiose and all that, but whatever was subtle, in the first movie, gradually got lost in the second and third. Now with The Hobbit, one and two, it’s like [all] that to the power of 10.” — Viggo Mortensen on Peter Jackson

Smaug didn't impress me much. by the time I saw the movie, i was sick of hearing the name pronounced Smowg. Yech. where are Smaugs arms? and why does he look blue nosed? I thought LOTR had a really good blend of PR and CGI. The Hobbit was decent when i watched without 3D. HobbitoS dragged on and left with another cliff hanger. none of that melted gold looked convincing. And that made no sense that Smaug was able to fly while coated in it.

The "giant molten gold dwarf" weapon, thing, whatever, was just about the stupidest idea i've ever seen put on film.

And I agree that Jackson has gone Lucas-levels of insane with the CGI. It's a trend. Movies are increasingly absurd/unrealistic across the board. I can suspend belief, but only so far. Please don't make me start disbelieving obvious laws of physics.

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The "giant molten gold dwarf" weapon, thing, whatever, was just about the stupidest idea i've ever seen put on film.

And I agree that Jackson has gone Lucas-levels of insane with the CGI. It's a trend. Movies are increasingly absurd/unrealistic across the board. I can suspend belief, but only so far. Please don't make me start disbelieving obvious laws of physics.

Agreed. I can hardly watch a Peter Jackson film anymore. Viggo said it best in the link i posted above.

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Matt once made a very nice play in Seattle where he spun away from a pass rusher and hit Bowe off his back foot for a first down.

I didn't like how Smaug was so easily defeated. I felt like he didn't get enough time in the trilogy. I understand the battle of the five armies needed the time, but I wish they would have shown more of Smaug kicking ass in the 2nd movie.